The Town of The Blue Mountains has been able to move up a portion of a major road reconstruction project in Thornbury.
At its committee of the whole meeting on June 6, The Blue Mountains council approved a staff report that recommended advancing a portion of the Thornbury West reconstruction phase 1B into phase 1A in order to get the work done immediately.
Phase 1A of the project has been underway since 2022. Last year, the contractor experienced delays with locate services that pushed some of the work into 2023. The contractors returned in recent weeks to finish the project. The contractor’s presence at the site has opened up an opportunity to add a portion of Elma Street between Louisa and Arthur Streets to the work being done right now. That section of Elma Street was to be included in phase 1B, which is going to tender later this year.
“Given that (the contractor is) here and that is a portion we could get done relatively quickly this construction season, we see a lot of opportunity and benefit for the overall project,” said the town's director of operations, Shawn Carey.
The advancement of the timeline for the Elma Street work will not impact the budget for the project. The total approved budget for both phases is just over $18.8 million. Staff sought permission from council to advance $1,350,000 of the phase 1B budget for the Elma Street work and $9,000 for the engineering required.
Staff outlined a number of benefits to getting the work done immediately including:
- Looping 150 mm watermain from Louisa Street to Arthur Street to improve redundancy and provide better pressures, especially during phase 1B construction.
- Reducing volume of work in 2024, improving schedule and increasing likelihood it can be completed in one construction season.
- Improve construction traffic operation for residents in phase 1B.
- Increase efficiency of contractor remobilization for 2023 works.
- Provide a year for property owners on Elma Street to connect their plumbing to the new services to be provided on Elma Street.
Council unanimously approved the request.
